


This is what is left of me

by Linked_Aurica



Series: People can only live by forgetting the bad [3]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Eating Disorders, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Past Abuse, Warriors (Linked Universe)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:48:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28088001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linked_Aurica/pseuds/Linked_Aurica
Summary: Warriors always struggled with his self image.No one thought that the one so confident would deal with demons like this.
Series: People can only live by forgetting the bad [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010550
Comments: 21
Kudos: 64





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hehe trigger warning as per usual for
> 
> Eating disorder

Warriors always struggled with his self image. Though he didn't show it, overcompensated with his confidence. 

No one really knew what hid behind the smiles and the jokes. No one knew what happened behind the door of his bathroom. 

Only Warriors himself knew and he was bound to keep that secret for as long as he could. Preferably the rest of his life… 

For how long that may be.   
___

"Hey, Captain," Legend said, letting his hand rest on his friend's shoulder, "I am getting some lunch, wanna come along?" 

To this, Warriors shook his head. "No thanks, but I appreciate the offer," he said, turning back to trying to glue back a mug he had dropped. 

"What did you do?" 

"I was being dumb and let my mug drop," Warriors replied. He didn't say that he had a dizzy spell before he dropped said mug. 

"And here I thought you had steady hands," Legend said, mirth dancing in his eyes. 

Warriors chuckled a bit. 

"Well, I'm going. Maybe Hyrule wants to tag along. See ya!" 

And with that, Legend went off to find his best friend. 

Warriors turned back to his task. Grabbing a piece of the mug and the glue, he carefully placed the piece back. Only then he saw how his hands shook. 

Grabbing the last piece and ignoring the tremors, he zeroed in on the spot. 

It was then that a hand clapped on his back, making him push on the mug and breaking it again. 

"Oh shit!" 

That was Twilight. 

Warriors whipped his head to the ranch hand. He regretted that immediately; his sight disappeared, and when it returned, Twilight was crouched in front of him.

When did I end on the floor? 

"Are you okay?" 

Warriors only nodded, but Twilight wasn't convinced. Something was going on and he was determined to find out. 

"You don't suddenly faint, Wars. Is something going on?" 

Warriors shook his head. Twilight couldn't find out. "I- you just scared me really bad," he said. Twilight looked at him with a scrutinizing look. He took in Warriors like he was observing a crime scene and found the evidence clear on the other's face.

Dark bags had collected under his eyes, his skin looked too pale to Twilight liking and the slight tremor didn't go unnoticed. 

"Have you eaten?" 

The wide eyed reaction was all Twilight needed to have his answer. "You need to eat," he said. 

Warriors felt like he was trapped in choices. The thought alone made him sick. And if it didn't make him sick, it made his skin feel like it was stretched out and his stomach bloated. 

Everyone would see him. 

Everyone would see his body, comment on it, asking the question if he gained weight. 

He wanted to avoid all that. He also wanted to avoid Twilight from finding out. 

So he nodded and wanted to stand up, but his head didn't agree with that; dizziness overtook him almost immediately. 

"Stay there and don't move," Twilight said, standing up to get his friend something to eat. 

He had no clue what was going on but he was determined to find that out.   
___

Wild sat on his bed, freshly awake from a nap. A few days ago he had gotten the flu and was knocked out for at least a day. Now he woke up feeling much better and decided to take a shower. 

He got up, grabbed his stuff and walked to the bathroom he shared with Warriors. Even in his fevered state, he saw that something was going on with his friend, but was too tired to think about it. 

That changed when he heard gagging noises coming from the bathroom. He reached the door and at that moment it opened. Warriors stood in the doorway, his face morphing in a look of pure horror when he saw Wild. 

"Are you okay, Wars?" Wild asked. 

Warriors had to think quickly. "I got sick," he said. "I hope I didn't give you the flu?" Wild asked and Warriors just shrugged. 

"Maybe. It's not that strange to happen," he replied and continued walking, leaving Wild alone.   
__

Time sat on the couch, checking over the bills. He got distracted by footsteps and saw Warriors walking into the room. "What's up, Old Man?" Warriors asked. Time let out a sigh. "I hate paying bills, but I guess it needs to happen," Time replied. He went back to the calculator and typed in some more numbers. 

He looked back up and saw Warriors stare at seemingly nothing. 

"Are you okay, Wars?" 

His voice brought Warriors back from whatever he was thinking about. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Warriors replied. It was a bit too fast to Time's liking, but he didn't comment on it. 

"We're back!" 

Legend and Hyrule came back from their trip to get food and came back with bags full of it. 

"Hey, Warriors, you really need to eat, you look like you died and came back to life," Legend said, laughing.

Warriors forced a smile. 

He tried not to get the comment to him, but his own mind was already printing lies in his head. 

Lies he believed. 

He didn't want to hear it anymore. He was done with Legend's comments, even if they were jokes. They weren't funny at all. 

So, Warriors went upstairs. Contemplating on what to do. 

What he would do.   
__

Legend hadn't even said the words or Warriors went upstairs. 

"Did-did I say something wrong?" he asked, "He's been acting weird lately," he added. 

"Weird?" Hyrule asked. 

"Yeah, he wouldn't go and eat today. I don't know why, but Warriors not going to get something to eat is not like him," Legend replied.

Time frowned. 

Something was going on.   
__

The next few days, Warriors didn't show himself. He did eat, but only to not raise suspicion. 

Later he would throw that back up. His strength was wavering day by day, to the point where he physically couldn't get out of bed anymore. 

Not that he wanted to. 

Everyone tried to get him to get up, asked if something was wrong, but he didn't react.   
__

It was a week and a half later that Sky went upstairs and tried to get Warriors to open the door, or at least talk. 

When he reached the room, he reached for the doorknob and found the door was unlocked. He opened the door, but it got stuck halfway. 

Sky wiggled himself in the room and was met with the smell of body odor. 

He looked at the bed, but didn't see Warriors. He tried to open the door further, but it was still blocked. It was when he looked down that he saw what was blocking the door.   
___

Legend and Time sat downstairs when a scream erupted from upstairs. 

"Sky?" 

Upon uttering their friend's name, Sky came running downstairs, still screaming. 

Time got up and grabbed the frightened boy by the shoulder. "Sky, what's wrong?" Time asked. 

"W-" not more than that came out of him. He heaved a breath. "Warriors! Something happened to Warriors! He's-" 

Time didn't wait for Sky to finish his sentence and ran to Warriors room, where he was met with an horrible sight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A race against time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw for talk about past abuse

Everything was dark. 

Dark and silent. 

So much so, that it was oppressive and it seemed impossible to escape. He trudged on and suddenly heard something. 

Voices. 

Panicked voices. Sounds assaulting his senses. 

_ "-eathe, Sky."  _

The oppressive darkness lessened. And more and more sensations came back. He was lying on a soft surface that moved. Flickering lights filtered into his closed eyes and with all his strength that he had, he opened them. 

He figured as much as his muddled mind would allow, that he was lying on a stretcher, about to be wheeled out of the house. 

That was all he could register before the darkness swallowed him whole again. 

__

Sky sat on the plastic chair in the waiting room, in the middle of a panic attack. His second in an hour. 

The image of Warriors wouldn't leave his mind's eye. He could safely say that it traumatized him. Time tried to calm his friend down, but Sky was so deep in his panic, that nothing went past the barrier. 

"Sky, you need to try and slow your breathing. You'll pass out this way," Time said. He was at loss on what to do. 

Wild walked over to the pair to help out, when Sky lost his fight with his panic and slumped over into Time's arms. 

"Oh goddess."

Wild saw this as his moment to interfere. "He'll be fine, Time," he said. "His body will reset itself. Just stay here and I'll get help." 

Time nodded and held Sky firmly as Wild went off to get a nurse. 

They managed to get Sky to a room where he could recover in, and Wild stayed with him. 

"Just let me know if there's any news, okay?" 

Time nodded and went back to the waiting room. 

__

It felt like hours when seven Links waited for a doctor to come out. And they got up when one walked their way. 

"Please tell me he's okay," Hyrule said, looking at the doctor with pleading eyes. After a sight, the medic spoke up. 

"He's alive."

A collective sigh of relief was heard. 

"However, he barely made it. He's lucky you guys found him when you did."

Time's thoughts went back to Sky screaming and how terrified he was. The rest of the events were a blur of motions and color. 

"What's wrong with him?" 

Wind was the one asking that question. They all looked at the doctor with bated breath. 

"He's severely malnourished. His organs were shutting down, but we managed to stabilize him." 

Legend looked at his shoes. He should've seen the signs. He saw how Warriors' hands were shaking when he was trying to repair the cup. 

Twilight thought back at the moment Warriors collapsed. Something was wrong. 

"Is he awake?" Time asked. 

"At this moment not. It's better if you come back tomorrow," the doctor said. Time nodded. He understood, but hated it that he couldn't go in. 

"We should check up on Wild and Sky," he then said, to which the others agreed on. 

__

Sky stared at his hands, trying to piece together what had happened. Wild sat next to him, a look of concern plastered on his face. 

"I can't get the image out of my head. Wild, he looked so pale and… Dead," Sky said, feeling himself shake again. Wild grabbed his hands.

"I bet he will pull through. It's Warriors, he'll get on top of this." 

Sky nodded. He wanted to believe it, but part of him was terrified. It was then that someone knocked on the door and opened it. Time walked in, followed by the other Links. 

"How are you feeling?" was the first thing Time asked. "I'm fine, sore and a bit tired, but I'm fine," Sky said. "How is Warriors? Is he alive?" 

"He's alive. The doctors managed to save him. Apparently he is severely malnourished to the point that his organs were shutting down," Time said. 

Wild's mind immediately jumped to the moment he caught Warriors throwing up. "He was sick, at least, that's what he told me. I was going to take a shower when I heard him in the bathroom. I don't believe he was sick in the way that I was," Wild elaborated. 

Twilight looked up. 

"You don't think he-" 

"I don't know." 

__

Warriors woke to sounds. Beeping sounds, slightly irregular, but strong. 

His own heart. 

Upon opening his eyes, he was met with a lot of white. White walls, white doors, white lights. 

A hospital. 

He tried to remember why he was in a hospital. And why his nose hurt. Slowly, he lifted his hand up to his face and started searching for what was going on. 

And he was met with the familiar texture of a tube. Whipping his head up, he was hooked to a bag of fluids. 

Already, he could feel himself expand. His body was getting too big for him and it freaked him out. 

_ Please no!  _

_ Get it out!!  _

**_Get it out!!!_ **

His heart rate had increased so much, alarms went off and within seconds his room was occupied by several nurses. 

"Link, no, you need this or you'll die!" 

Warriors struggled more. "Then let me die!!" his mind was shifting back to the time he was with his abusive ex Cia. 

How she yelled at him for the way he looked. Beat him, belittled him, telling him on the daily that he was fat and no one else wanted him but she. 

Everything she said, cut through him like a knife and he gradually stopped eating. Moving away from her was hard and he still struggled to this day. 

It was when he got a card from her, that he reverted back to his old self. He didn't know how she found him, but it terrified him that his own mind started playing tricks. 

  
  


And now he was back to where he was, if not worse. 

__

It was several days later that the Links could see their friend. Sky held on tightly to Wild. 

When they entered the room, Warriors sat on the bed cross-legged, looking at his tablet. He looked up and Time saw the tube sitting in place. 

"I know you have questions."

Sky walked up. "Don't scare us again like this! What happened? Why do you have this?" he asked. Wild pulled him back. "Calm down, Sky. Let's not overwhelm him."

Warriors shook his head. "I owe you guys an explanation. It's something I never told anyone," he said. 

Twilight took place next to Warrior and grabbed his hand that didn't have a needle in it. 

"I- I have struggled with food for a while now. Actually for as long as I can remember. I think it started when I was younger and got bullied for my weight," he started. "I was hospitalized and diagnosed with an eating disorder. And I know you guys probably think: how can a grown man have an eating disorder?" 

Twilight shook his head. " We don't think that. I'm sorry you couldn't reach out. I wish you did, though." 

"I had an ex. Cia. I was so happy when I met her. She was the one who got me out of my dark days." Warriors' faint smile dropped. "Until she was the cause of my dark days. She was- she treated me like the bullies did. She beat me, she called me names, made comments on how I looked." 

Warriors let out a sigh. 

"I relapsed. After years of trying to get myself back, I relapsed and I realized that I had to get out of there. So I left in the dead of night. And that was three years ago."

The silence was deafening. No one dared to speak, let alone  _ breathe.  _ "And guess what," Warriors continued," she found me. She found me and sent me a card and I couldn't cope. I didn't know what to do."

"You could've come to us," Time said. "I don't know what we can do but-" 

"You can't do anything. I don't deserve help. They've tried and I'm back again, getting destroyed," Warriors interrupted Time. "I- I'm getting admitted again."

The group listened intently. And then Wild spoke up. "You can do this. You will beat this and you will recover." Warriors shrugged. "I don't know, I don't think I'm able to," he said. Twilight squeezed the hand he hadn't let go. "We're here for you. You need this and you will come out on top," he said, determination clear in his eyes. 

Warriors looked over to the others who had their variations of agreements. 

Warriors let out a sigh. 

"Okay, I'll do it for you guys."

___

_ SIX MONTHS LATER _

___

Warriors stepped out of the car and gazed upon the house he left all those months ago. He felt better than ever, had learned many things and was ready to try again. 

He stepped to the entrance and opened the door. 

  
  


"Welcome home!!!" 

Wind ran to him and almost tackled him, hugging him tight. "I missed you!" Wind exclaimed. "I missed you too," Warriors chuckled. 

Within seconds he was hugged by everyone. He knew they had questions, but that would come later. 

For now, he just wanted to experience the love of his friends. 

And experience life again. 

Cause damn it:  _ he would try and live it to the fullest! _


End file.
